Stress

What Does Stress Do to Your Body?

According to the American Psychology Association, 75 percent of Americans report experiencing at least one symptom of stress in the past month. With an overwhelming amount of stress reported by Americans, it’s no wonder disease and chronic health conditions are on the rise. Read through this list to see if your health conditions could be related to stress in your life!

Not easy on the nerves – humans have a built in trigger for fight or flight that is great when you need a sudden burst of awareness to escape an attack, but this reaction can be harmful if sustained, raising blood pressure and blood sugar to dangerous levels. You may also start to experience tension headaches or migraines.

Storing the fat – your may also respond to stress by storing fat differently, typically abdominal fat, as well as enlarging the size of fat cells.

Too stressed to sleep – do you ever notice difficulty sleeping when you are stressed? Stress-induced insomnia often stops once the stressful event is over, but too much insomnia can cause long-term sleep disorders.

Forget me not – if you’re stressed for long periods of time, you may also experience difficulty forming new memories. Acute stress affects your neurotransmitters that help brain cells communicate.

Early hair loss – too much stress may also cause you to lose those that illustrious mane. This is often referred to as alopecia areata, which is an autoimmune condition often caused by stress.

Tummy troubles – it is also believed that added stress often causes heartburn, stomach cramping and diarrhea. However, when the stress is prolonged, it can lead to irritable bowel syndrome and stomach ulcers.

Here, we care deeply about your overall health. If you need home medical equipment, don’t stress. We’re just a phone call or click away!

Ways to Reduce Stress

With warm weather on the incline, you can finally break out of the house and do all of the activities you dreamed about this spring. However, just because the weather is thawing doesn’t mean your stress melts away with the sun. There is plenty that can get in our way and unresolved stress can have a significant impact on our physical and emotional health. These are some great stress-reducing activities you can take hold of this season to start reducing your stress!

Walks

Walks are one of the best things you can do to reduce stress. It can be walks outside in the great weather, but it could even be a stroll around the mall. It doesn’t need to be speedy, but simply getting up and moving can reduce tension and anxiety. Walking produces endorphins which boost energy levels and mood. If you would feel more comfortable having a walker for assistance, you can certainly do so! We have plenty to choose from that can accommodate what you may need on a walk.

Enjoy the Great Outdoors

Step outside and take a deep breath. How great does that simple act feel? Sometimes, we just need to slow down and get back to nature. What activity that takes the form of will be different for everyone. Being immersed in the presence of nature is sometimes referred to as “forest bathing.” It can lower your blood pressure and can be a great way to spend time with loved ones. Don’t let the fear of limited mobility keep you from getting outside.Wheelchairs and scooters can be used on many nature trails and parks. Keep your mobility and say yes to the great outdoors!

Nutrition

The saying goes, “You are what you eat.” Which in some ways is very true. To feel good, you need to eat well. This means making sure you are consuming a well-balanced diet with fruits and vegetables. Make your plate colorful! Fresh produce will start tasting better and better as the season warms. Be sure to take advantage of this.

Pain Assistance

Chronic pain can be a hindrance to enjoying this spring. Ironically, chronic stress can exacerbate chronic pain. Look for ways to relieve your pain so you can reduce stress and get excited about the season. If you have joint pain, you may want to consider a brace. There are many pain management aids that can help reduce your pain and stress simultaneously because of their ease of use. You may want to consider cold or heat therapy to reduce swelling and inflammation.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to ensure you are living stress-free this spring. Get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and if you need help doing that - contact us today!

Top 5 Ways to Manage Stress

Stress. Who doesn’t have a little bit of stress in their life? Okay - or a lot. As we all know, there are many different things that cause stress, but there are also many ways to help manage and relieve your stress. More often than not, we deal with stress as a normal part of life and do not focus on trying to manage it but rather just push it off. In honor of Stress Awareness Month, we wanted to give you some ways to manage this stress in hopes that it will help you live a more worry-free life!

Deep Breathing

Deep breathing seems like such a simple thing, but the benefits of this ‘simple thing’ are astounding. In fact, it is one of the best ways to lower stress in your body. During the deep breathing process, your brain is signaled to calm down and relax by increasing the oxygen supply, which also relaxes your body and reduces tension. You could try the 4-7-8 breathing exercise when doing this. During this process, you exhale through your mouth completely, close your mouth and inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and exhale completely through your mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat this for a few more times and it’s complete!

Yoga

Fight off stress and find serenity with yoga. Yoga is a mind-body practice that like many of the other stress-reducing exercises, has many benefits beyond reducing stress. Some of these include lowering your heart rate and your blood pressure! A few of the most popular yoga poses are the child’s pose, standing forward bend, downward facing dog and the upward facing dog. These are some poses you will see in most yoga classes. If you’re feeling stressed, yoga is definitely worth trying.

Stretching

Stretching helps with stress in many ways, but especially by reducing tension in your back and neck by getting your blood flowing. Releasing said tension helps you relax and improve your mobility to keep your blood moving and your body productive. When stretching, it is important to stretch all over including your fingers, arms, neck, ankles, legs and spine - literally anything you can stretch, do it. You won’t regret it!

Exercise

We all know the benefits of exercising for our health, but it is not always thought of as a solution when you’re stressed. It is important to exercise regularly in your daily routine for your health, but doing specific exercises when you are stressed such as kickboxing, dancing, cardio or anything above the normal will help a little extra as a stress reliever. Try it out, it just might be for you!

Sleep

Who doesn’t love a good night’s rest? As most know, sleep does wonders for the body. Helping relieve stress is just one small benefit, but a great one at that. The National Sleep Foundation recommends teenagers get 8-10 hours, adults get 7-9 hours and seniors get 7-8 hours. So when you’re feeling a little stressed, check your sleep schedule and see if you’re getting enough every night!

As you can see, there are many ways to relieve your body of stress. If you feel your pain is coming from stress and need a little help or advice, contact us today!